


run, boy, run

by punkcowboy



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, I mean they meet, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Meet-cute I guess?, Minho has anger issues, Minho is a douche to Thomas, Running, Thomas is a Hot Mess, and it’s a lil cute, but he’s working on it!!, but like he did run into him so maybe he deserves a little of it, lowkey gay panic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 02:13:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19053166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkcowboy/pseuds/punkcowboy
Summary: Should he have picked different music for this run, he may not have been so unaware of his surroundings, but what could he say? Highway to Hell always got him pumped and, consequentially, wrapped up in the beat. Singing along quietly and semi-dancing as he ran, he was in a good mood for once. Until, of course, he ran into this other guy.-Or, in which Thomas falls head over heels for Minho on his morning run (quite literally, unfortunately)





	run, boy, run

**Author's Note:**

> :) enjoy!

Earbuds, in. World, out.

Thomas could hear nothing but the music in his ears, just how he liked it. Running was a good distraction, granted, but the only way he could truly shut out the world was through music. And so, every morning, he trudged down the stairs and out the gate, put his earbuds in, turned the volume up loud (not as loud as it could go, as he quite liked not having his eardrums destroyed, thank you very much) and ran.

It hadn’t been long since he’d gotten back into running but, god, how he’d missed it. There was so much drama and stress at home that he’d had to work through, as well as school exams, that he’d put it on hold for a while. Then- well, he’d moved out, and his uni course had started, and he was busy manoeuvring in a new environment with a new schedule and new people and he just hadn’t had the time.

Now, however, a few weeks in, things had calmed down a little and he could get back into it. 

He liked to run by himself, not because he hated interacting with people- although that was kind of a factor- but mostly because he didn’t really like planning a route; he’d just run and run until he didn’t want to run anymore, keeping track of where he was going in his own head and turning back whenever he felt like it. Generally, that was an issue when other people were running with him. Apparently they got annoyed when he didn’t communicate when he was going to turn down a random street or something? 

And so he put his music on and ran by himself and Thomas was perfectly content with that.

Maybe the music was, however, too loud. At least, loud enough that he didn’t notice the other early morning runner until he had fully knocked him to the ground. Should he have picked different music for this run, he may not have been so unaware of his surroundings, but what could he say? Highway to Hell always got him pumped and, consequentially, wrapped up in the beat. Singing along quietly and semi-dancing as he ran, he was in a good mood for once. Until, of course, he ran into this other guy. He tried to stop his fall, but the force of their combined momentum meant that he just went down too.

Speaking of which.

Groaning loudly, one earbud hanging out now but still determinedly blasting AC/DC as if nothing had happened, he sat up and looked over to the poor man he had knocked down due to his inobservance.

Fuck.

He was cute.

Now, Thomas did not check out every guy he came across. But, even objectively, this man was handsome. He had cropped black hair and wore a white t-shirt that clung to his definitely well defined abs. And his skin glowed, actually fucking _glowed_. How does someone even do that?

Painfully aware that he had been staring, Thomas cleared his throat and stood up quickly. The dude squinted up at him.

“Um,” he managed to squeak out, “sorry about that. Are you ok?”

He held his arm out awkwardly, offering him a hand up, but the other man batted it away, unimpressed, and stood up himself.

_Please don’t be an asshole, please don’t be an asshole._

“For fucks sake, you need to watch where you’re going, dickhead.”

 _Great_.

“Sorry, mate, got a bit wrapped up in the music,” he rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling apologetically.

“Yeah, whatever. You’re not my mate though, ok? Especially after you fucking bowled me over like that.”

“Hey!” Thomas said, “in my defence, you obviously weren’t paying much attention either.”

The stranger looked like he was about to bite Thomas’ head off. They stared at each other for a minute, the silence stretching on, but just as Thomas was about to turn tail and head for the hills, the other dude let out a sigh and rubbed his face, as if exasperated. Eventually, he held out his hand.

“Sorry, _bro_ , bad morning. Didn’t mean to chew you out like that, you’re right- just as much my fault as yours.”

Thomas was still a little sceptical- he definitely didn’t _sound_ very sincere- but he certainly wasn’t looking for a fight either, so he took the offered hand. Let bygones be bygones and all that.

“My name’s Minho.”

“Thomas.”

The stranger- Minho- nodded at him and withdrew his hand quickly, as if Thomas’ touch had burned him. A little rude, but whatever. He tilted his head and squinted at Thomas, as if trying to figure out all his secrets or something. It certainly felt as if he was inspecting his very soul.

“I run down this street nearly every morning. Never seen you here before.”

“Yeah, I- I just got back into it.” Thomas rubbed the back of his neck, still a bit uncomfortable. Where was this going?

“Tell ya what Thomas- I have a mate who owns a gym, right? Has a brilliant running track, and I lead the track team there. How’d you like to try out for it? If you’re any good, you can join and get a free membership. If not, I’m sure I can get you a couple free sessions anyway. Handsome guy like you, shouldn’t be too hard to convince Alby,” wait, handsome? Also, did he just _wink_? What was happening? Minho kept talking though, not giving Thomas any time to collect his thoughts.

“It’s a great gym, promise. Some assholes go, including myself unfortunately for you, but ain’t that always the case? Called The Glade, you might have heard of it- it’s got a real good rep around here. Whaddaya think?”

“Um. I-“

“Think it over, dude. Here, I’ll give you my number, text me when you make up your mind. I gotta run.”

Some part of his brain connected with that, and he managed to pull out his phone. They exchanged numbers, Thomas still in a daze. He stood there long after Minho left, completely baffled about the events of the past few minutes. Eventually, a car going past shook him out of his head.

 _Well_ , he thought as he picked up the pace again, _at lease I now have a cute guy’s number. Even if he is a bit of a douche._

**Author's Note:**

> So, I feel I should explain a couple things.
> 
> This is the first chapter of a multi-chapter story that I have in my head, however I currently have three work-in-progress multichapters up on here, so I felt it would be- rude?- of me to start a fourth without having finished any of the others y’know? 
> 
> BUT I’d finished this first chapter and I felt that it could kinda work on its own, and wanted to post it. So you can consider this a teaser if you want? I’m marking it as complete for now with just the one part up, but I’d like to write the rest of this story at some point. 
> 
> However, I hope you enjoyed this, and as always any feedback is much appreciated!! xo


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